Tragedy Strikes
by MusicAthlete11
Summary: Tony has been in love with Gibbs for years, but what if Gibbs loves him back? Both men are too scared to voice their feelings, but when tragedy strikes they are forced to confront their feelings for each other. Tibbs
1. Chapter 1

_AN: Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or the characters. Just the story line and unknown characters._

"DiNozzo!" Why do you not have any information?!" Gibbs yelled at Tony, with an angry face.

"I'm trying, Boss, but I'm going off nothing here." Tony tried to explain.

"I needed new information 2 hours ago! And I don't believe I gave you permission to eat lunch!" Gibbs yelled as he threw Tony's uneaten lunch in the trash.

"Yes, Boss. Getting back to work, Boss." Tony said, as he turned back to his computer.

"No. Ziva will do your job. You find the Lieutenant's family, maybe you won't mess that up." Gibbs bellowed as he walked toward Tony's desk. He picked up the file on Tony's desk and gave it to Ziva. Tony nodded and turned back to his computer. Gibbs quickly walked over and head slapped Tony. Hard. Tony's head snapped forward and hit his computer. "If you mess this up, you're fired." Gibbs walked back to his desk. "You can go home at 20:00 hours, but you must have something to give me tomorrow, before I get here." Gibbs said with a glare at Tony. He walked toward the elevator, and left. It was currently 1930 hours.

30 minutes passed, and McGee, Ziva, and Abby, who had joined them in the bullpen, left. Not one of them spared a glance or word to Tony. Tony just continued working, not caring about anything but pleasing Gibbs.

Tony continued to search for anything that would give him a lead. He went through phone and bank records, family history, the Lieutenant's daily routine, Ducky's autopsy report, and Abby's evidence report. Tony followed his gut, and did not stop for food or sleep. He hadn't eaten in 24 hours.

Tony suddenly got an urge to look at the crime scene photos again. Tony studied them under the light of his desk lamp. He scrutinized the photos and studied every single inch of the photo before moving on.

Finally, he found something out of place. Tony quickly ran down to Abby's lab. He pulls on some gloves and digs through the evidence bucket. He found the item he was looking for, a pen. Though it seemed unimportant, Tony knew this pen was the key. His gut was screaming at him.

Tony analyzed the pen and ran tests: fingerprint, DNA, and substance. Then he opened the pen. He unscrewed the top of the pen and dumped out the contents. Inside was the ink capsule and a little piece of paper wrapped around the capsule.

"Bingo." Tony said to himself. He picked up the paper and opened it. The Lieutenant had written a note, telling the reader who the killer was and how to find the evidence. Tony quickly ran fingerprint and DNA tests on the note, both came back positive for the Lieutenant. Tony rebagged the pen and note, and placed them back in the evidence box.

Tony went back to his desk to research the culprit. The information that came up was too simple. Something seemed off about the guy, and Tony's gut was telling him there was more to the story. Using his computer skills that he usually kept hidden, computer skills that would put McGee to shame, Tony found the true identity of the man. Dawson Coplane. Coplane was an identity thief and was using a pseudonym while hanging out with the Lieutenant. Coplane was also a prison escapee along with numerous other charges. He was a very dangerous man, but no one could catch him because they could never find him.

Tony printed out the address for Coplane and his current pseudonym. First he went back to the crime scene to pick up the hidden camera that Lieutenant Hopkins had hidden and expressed in the note. He found the camera, hidden in a screw on the lightswitch, removed it, and stopped recording. Taking the camera back to his car, he plugged in the camera to his computer to watch the footage.

After identifying Coplane as the killer, he plugged in the two addresses to his GPS, starting first with John Ocean, Coplane's pseudonym to confirm the theft. Tony pulled away from the crime scene and headed toward John Ocean's house.

Tony pulled up to a quaint little house and parked the car. He got out and walked up to the door. He raised his hand and knocked, SIG at the ready in his hand, just in case. Tony glanced around cautiously while waiting for someone to answer the door.

Suddenly, the door opened.

_AN: Cliffhanger! Sorry, you'll have to read the next chapter to find out what happens._


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Hey all I'm back. Enjoy!_

Tony pulled up to a quaint little house and parked the car. He got out and walked up to the door. He raised his hand and knocked, SIG at the ready in his hand, just in case. Tony glanced around cautiously while waiting for someone to answer the door.

Suddenly, the door opened.

There stood a young man holding a little girl who looked to be around six. "Can I help you?" the man asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for a Mr. John Ocean?" Tony asked.

"That's my daddy! He's standing right in front of you, silly man!" the little girl laughed. Tony smiled and bent down to her level.

"I'm Tony. What's your name?"

"My name is Meadow-Oak Mal Ocean! But usually people call me Meadow, Dow, or Oak." Meadow-Oak excitedly exclaimed.

"Well, how about I give you a new nickname?" Tony smiled.

"A new nickname? What is it?" Meadow-Oak bounced excitedly in her father's arms.

"I think I will call you, MoMo. Tony smiled and tapped her nose.

"Why MoMo? It doesn't make sense?" MoMo looked at Tony quizedly.

"It's your initials put together. M for Meadow, O for Oak, M for Mal, and O for Ocean. Put it together and you get MoMo!" Tony exclaimed, making wil hand gestures. MoMo laughed.

"Do you want to play with me?" MoMo asked Tony.

"If it's okay with your father." Tony responded, looking at John.

"Of course, come in! Come in!" John beckoned Tony into the house and closed the door behind him. John placed MoMo on the ground. "Run along, Oak. Tony will be there in just a minute." John told his daughter as he lead Tony into the kitchen. "Lisa, this is Tony. Tony, this is my wife, Lisa." John introduced Tony to the woman in the kitchen who was cleaning up from breakfast. Tony shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you." Lisa greeted.

"The pleasure is all mine." Tony kissed her hand.

"What a gentleman." Lisa smiled. "Please, sit down." Tony, John, and Lisa sat down at the kitchen table. "Your parents must have been wonderful people to have taught you to be polite to a lady." Lisa commented.

"Actually, it was quite the opposite. My mother loved me very much, but was usually drunk. My father abused me for the first twelve years of my life before he disowned me and sent me off to boarding school. He killed my mother when I was eight. I basically taught myself everything until I went to boarding school." Tony said.

"Oh, you poor man." Lisa exclaimed as she reached across the table to grab Tony's hand.

"Well, enough about my sad childhood. Onto business. I am NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. I'm here investigating a murder. Do you know Lieutenant Hopkins?"

"No. I've never heard that name before." John replied.

"Well, I came here looking for a highly dangerous felon. He's an identity thief and his current pseudonym is John Ocean, so I figured I would come here to check my facts. I know you are not my man, so don't worry."

"Well, my driver's license and ID were stolen a few months ago and I got them replaced. I also reported the theft but no one did anything about it." John explained.

"Thank you so much. Now I can add another charge when I arrest him."

"And you're going to confront and arrest this man without backup?" Lisa looked at him incredulously. Tony looked at her with a look of shock on his face. "What? I used to be a police officer, then I had Meadow and decided to do consulting so I wasn't in the line of danger anymore."

"Awesome! Well, yeah. I'm going to confront him on my own. I'm not on the best of terms with my team right now. My boss is really upset with me and I want to impress him, get back on his good side. Remind him why he hired me." Tony sighed. It felt good to have a friend who understood police work.

Lisa reached over and placed her hand on Tony's arm. "If they can't see how worthy you already are, then their not worth it."

Tony smiled, "Thanks."

"Now, go play with Oak. She's been very patient." John playfully ordered.

Tony started to stand then stopped. "Wait." He pulled out his notepad and a pen, and wrote down his work, mobile, and personal phone numbers, and his work and personal emails. He slid the notebook across to the Ocean's. "I want that notebook back." Tony said with a playful glare.

Lisa jumped up and hugged him. "I think we just found a new family member." She whispered in his ear.

Tony smiled and hugged her back. They release each other and Tony goes off to play with Meadow-Oak.

Two hours later, Tony realizes it is 10:00. "I've gotta get going. I've got a killer to arrest." Tony announces as he stands up.

MoMo jumps up and grabs his arm. "No you can't go!"

"MoMo, I promise I don't want to leave either, but I have a job to do. I promise, I will come back soon." Tony promised the child. 'As long as I'm not dead.' Tony thought. Tony crouched down and hugged MoMo. He stood up and made his way to the door. John shook his hand, and Lisa gave him a hug.

"Take care of yourself, Tony." John told him.

"Be safe. Come back to us, please. Don't get yourself killed." Lisa whispered in his ear.

"I'll try." Tony whispered back. Tony climbed into his car and waved to the Ocean's as he drove off. Following his GPS to Dawson Coplane's address.

Stopping outside Coplane's address, Tony took a minute to change Lisa and John Ocean to his Emergency Contact on his HR papers. He still kept Gibbs as his Medical Proxy. Tony took a deep breath and checked his SIG. He got out of his car and started down the path toward the house.

He surveyed his surroundings as he made his way toward the house. Dawson Coplane lived deep in the woods in a log cabin. Nobody would hear or know anything that happened to him if something went wrong with the arrest.

McGee and Ziva would be happy he was gone. Same with Vance. Then he could finish "updating" NCIS with people like McGee.

Abby would probably mourn him for a little while, then forget about him, just as she did with Kate. Gibbs would notice long enough to fire him, throw out his stuff, and replace him. This thought made him sad. He had been in love with Gibbs since Baltimore, but the other man seemed to have it out for him lately. He missed the close relationship he used to have with the older man.

Ducky and Jimmy would probably be the only two that would actually notice and never forget about him. Tony sighed. He thought he had found a family in his team, but that all changed.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he returned to the task at hand. He needed to focus or he really would end up dead. He needed to keep his promise to the Ocean's. He needed to return, alive, not seriously injured. It surprised him that he was more concerned about returning to the people he met three hours ago, than to the people he had known for ten years, his so called friends and family.

Again, he shook the thoughts from his head and focused. He walked up the steps, praying that Coplane was home, otherwise he would have to return, late and empty handed to Gibbs. Gibbs would probably head slap him into next week for finding information, going to confront a highly dangerous criminal without backup, then returning without the criminal.

Again, he prayed that Coplane was home, raised his hand, and knocked.

_AN: Whelp, that's it for this chapter! Another cliffhanger. Aren't they just the best? Tomorrow's chapter is where the meat of the story really sets in. Thanks for reading!_


	3. Sorry

Hey guys, so sorry about the mishaps that have happened with this story. I haven't been able to get on here for a while so I just saw your reviews. I am fixing the problem now and I apologize again for the mix up and delay.


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: Here it is. The third chapter. Just a heads up, the stuff that's about to happen might not actually be possible. Bear with me here. Also, this chapter has some mature language._

_Enjoy!_

The door opened, revealing Dawson Coplane. "Who the fuck are you?" Coplane growled.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo Jr. NCIS, at your service." Tony introduced himself with an elaborate bow. "I'm here to take you in for questioning on the murd…" He was cut off by Coplane pistol whipping him in the temple.

Tony was knocked backward off the porch. He blinked a couple times, trying to stop the world from spinning, then stood up drawing his SIG. Before Tony could do anything else, Coplane rapidly fired off eleven shots, every single one hit Tony.

Luckily for Tony, Coplane's gun got jammed. Coplane cursed as he stopped to unjam his gun. Tony, who was running on pure adrenaline now, reacted quickly. He threw his gun to the side and tackled Coplane. Tony wrestled him for the gun, and won. The fight that ensued after was a brutal one for Tony. It didn't help that Coplane was about double Tony's size, and Tony was injured. Coplane was able to land many brutal blows and got the upper hand more than once.

Coplane had many chances to run, but he wasn't about to let this cop walk away, alive. He wanted no witnesses to the murder he had commited. He had every intention to kill Tony and bury his body where no one would ever find him.

Finally, Tony was able to over power Coplane and knock him out. Breathing heavily, he cuffed Coplane and dragged him to the car.

Tony threw Coplane in the backseat. He did a quick mental assessment of his injuries as he walked to the driver's door.

He could feel bruises forming all over his body from the harsh beating he took. He could tell he had a broken nose and a split lip. He was pretty sure he broken ribs as well. He had a massive headache, from being pistol whipped and getting a fist slammed into his head multiple times. He knew he had a concussion and probably shouldn't even be driving, but at the moment he could care less.

As for the gunshots, there was a bullet lodged in his left hand, he was just glad it wasn't his right hand. There were four bullets lodges in his arms, two in his left bicep, one in his right elbow, and one in his right shoulder. Now that he thought about it, his left shoulder was smarting pretty bad, it might be dislocated. He went back to the gunshots. He was limping because of a bullet lodged in his knee, the same one he had injured in college. There was another bullet in his side, along with three in his chest. Those weren't quite kill blows, one had lodged itself in his collar bone, one was lodged in his right shoulder joint, right where the shoulder and neck joined under his collar bone, and the final one had just missed his heart. The final bullet was lodged in the side of his head, which wasn't helping his headache. That was the extent of his injuries, that he could tell. He wasn't too sure how he was still standing, but he wasn't complaining.

This assessment only took about a minute, as he climbed into the car. He started the car and headed back to the navy yard. There was only one thought in his mind the entire drive back. _How am I going to hide this from Gibbs?_

_AN: Sorry it's so short. Next chapter will be up tomorrow._


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Warning, graphic scene ahead. Enjoy!

Tony arrived back at the navy yard and parked his car. By this time Coplane had come back into consciousness and was yelling obscenities at Tony. Tony just rolled his eyes and dragged Coplane out of the car. They entered the elevator, Coplane trying to put up a fight the entire time, but Tony was ready for all of the attacks. He slammed Coplane into the elevator wall and held him there, but Coplane still got a few blows in.

The elevator dinged, signaling they had reached the bullpen. Tony took a deep breath and composed himself for anything he might face when he stepped out of the elevator.

The doors opened, and Tony was met with an empty bullpen. He sighed in relief. They were either out at lunch or out checking up on a lead.

Tony dragged Coplane through the bullpen, to interrogation. He grabbed the folder of his desk as they passed. Tony threw Coplane into the chair, and cuffed him to the table while he went and turned on the camera and microphone in observation. Tony returned to interrogation, uncuffed Coplane, and sat down in the chair opposite.

"Where were you on May 14th between 0200 and 0230 hours?" Tony questioned.

"I was having drinks with a friend." Coplane answered. Tony pulled out a picture of the lieutenant and slid it across the table.

"Was this the friend?"

"Well, yeah, but he was alive. Kind of hard to have drinks when you're dead."

"There were no glasses at the scene. Nor was there any alcohol in the house. So how did you have a drink?"

"Well, you see, I brought the alcohol and we dranks from the bottle. I took the bottle back home with me at the end of the night."

"Bullshit!" Tony slammed his hand down on the table. He smirked when Coplane actually jumped in his seat. "What the hell happened that night? Huh? What the hell did you do the Lieutenant? I have ways of making you talk, Coplane."

"You know what? I'm proud of my handiwork. I would be proud to tell you. All you had to do was ask." Coplane smirked. "I took a knife and carved words and shapes into his skin as I held him down by his throat. Man, the screams and pleas were music to my ears. I slammed his head against the floor five times. The blood was so beautiful, the paint on my canvass. I took a couple pictures to frame and hang up at my house. They're sitting on my mantle. They look perfect. Man, I haven't had that much fun in a while!" Coplane laughed.

"You sick bastard. Sign the confession."

As Coplane signed the confession, he spoke up again. "You know what was more fun than that? Shooting you eleven times, then beating the crap out of you. I don't know how you are still standing. I really underestimated you."

Tony stood up and cuffed Coplane. "Dawson Coplane, you are under arrest for the murder of Lieutenant Mitchell Hopkins, identity theft and fraud, resisting arrest, and assaulting a federal officer. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

Tony dragged Coplane down to booking. Before he passed him off Coplane had one more thing to say.

"Oh, by the way, you know this isn't over, right? When I escape prison, we'll have round two. Only this time, I'll be calling the shots. Also, you'll be dead. Mind you, it will be a very slow and painful death. That will take a year. That's a promise." Coplane whispered to Tony.

Tony passed Coplane off to the guards, "Add threatening a federal officer to his charges please."

The guards took Coplane away and Tony breathed a sigh of relief. He knew he would have to keep an eye on Coplane, he had no doubt that Coplane would make that threat a promise if he ever got out. Tony knew he would never be really safe until Coplane was dead.

Shaking his thoughts from his head, he headed to Abby's lab. He collected all of the evidence and put it in the evidence locker. He then went up to the bullpen, and sat down at his desk to type up his report.

Twenty minutes later, he printed his report, put the interrogation on a CD, and put both in the file with everything else. He went to the men's room and cleaned up his wounds as best he could to hide them. Then he started on cold cases.

At 1300 hours, the rest of the team entered the bullpen. Abby, Ducky, and Palmer going back to their labs, Gibbs, McGee, and Ziva heading towards their desks. The latter two stopped when they saw Tony.

"Nice of you to join us, DiNozzo." Gibbs growled.

"Yeah, I didn't know you still worked here." Ziva quipped.

"We didn't even notice you were gone. We didn't need you." McGee joined in. They went to their desks and continued to work on the now closed case.

DiNozzo, you better have…" Gibbs was cut off by Tony's cell phone ringing. Tony checked the caller ID, and smiled.

"Sorry, I have to take this." He flipped his phone open and put it to his ear. "Hey Lisa! No, right now is a perfect time. You're not interrupting anything."

McGee and Ziva stared at Tony in shock. He had just cut off Gibbs. Man he was dead! Gibbs on the other hand was shaking with anger.

"I know, I miss her too. Tell MoMo I send her my love…. Two days? I know it's really hard for her daddy to be away, and I wish I could come back sooner, but I can't… Well at least you can let her know her daddy's not in trouble anymore. Yeah, I would be honored… I'll talk to you tomorrow to discuss details for Friday. I love you."

The whole conversation was about how John had been called away for two days for an out of town business meeting. Tony knew how hard it was to not have a father around, and wished he could be there to help MoMo, but he didn't want to go home until Friday. Then Lisa told him that they wanted to adopt him. He was speechless, and he said yes but he wanted to talk to Lisa about a couple things before they commited.

Although, with what McGee and Ziva heard, they assumed something. The one thought running through their heads was, Tony is married and has a child.

Gibbs started to say something to Tony, but was interrupted by Abby, frantically running into the bullpen.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs! The evidence is gone! I looked everywhere in the lab! I think it's been stolen!" Abby exclaimed.

"Calm down, Abbs. We'll find it." Gibbs told her pulling her into a hug. "Go check your lab for fingerprints, DNA, or any other clues as to where it was taken. Ziva, go with her. McGee, security footage. DiNozzo, you're with me."

"Nope." Tony said. Everybody froze and stared at Tony.

"What did you say?" Gibbs growled.

"I said no. I'm not going on a pointless search for evidence that isn't missing." Tony stated.

"And I suppose you know exactly where it is, Tony?" Ziva quipped.

"Yup. It's in the evidence locker."

"And why is it there, DiNozzo? This is an ongoing case."

Tony snorted. "No it's not. It's been officially closed for an hour now." He held up the file for Gibbs to take.

"DiNozzo, elevator. Now."

Tony followed Gibbs to the elevator. After stopping the elevator, Gibbs turned towards Tony.

"Wait, Gibbs. I need to say something before you say your piece." Tony took a deep breath. He knew this was the time. "This might not be the best time to say this, but it's the perfect time for me. I've waited too long. I love you, Gibbs. I've been in love with you since that first head slap. That's why I never left, why I never took any of those job offers. That and the fact that I thought I had a family here. Ducky and Jimmy are still part of that family. They haven't changed. Abby, I still love and I think she just doesn't realize what she's been doing. As soon as she realizes it, I'm ready to forgive her and welcome her back with open arms. But Ziva and McGee? No way in hell. Now if it were just those three, I wouldn't be here. I would visit them, everyday. What kept me here is you. I couldn't stand the thought of not seeing you everyday. It would have killed me. I was literally dying when you went to Mexico, Ducky had to drag me back from the brink. This team hasn't been a family for years now. I used to have two brothers, two sisters, a grandfather, and the love of my life, even if we weren't together. I haven't felt like that since Kate died. Ziva has never been anything but my partner at work. McGee lost the title of brother when he sided with Ziva. I thought that I wouldn't be able to handle your rejection, but things have happened that have shown that I have others who are there for me. Gibbs, I miss the old us. The us that got together outside of work, the us that were great friends. The us that shared meals and beer at your house every week. What happened to you? You started pushing me away. Why? Help me understand. I'm not afraid of rejection anymore. I have nothing holding me back to this team anymore. I am ready and willing to walk out if I have to. Maybe the thought of losing me will make you realize just how cruel you've been to me. How much I love you, that I am willing to walk away."

Gibbs stared at Tony in shock. He had never thought that the younger man would ever love him back. Him, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, second b for bastard. Tony was right, now that he thought about it. He was right about everything. He also didn't want to lose Tony, and if showing him how he really felt was the way to keep him here, with him. Then by God, Gibbs would do just that.

Gibbs grabbed Tony's shirt and pulled him into a kiss. Tony smirked. 'Just like Gibbs, a man of action, not a man of words,' he thought. Tony moaned when Gibbs ran his tongue against Tony's lips, asking for entrance, which Tony happily granted.

They broke apart when air became a necessity.

"You're not going anywhere, Tony. Unless it's with me." Gibbs smirked.

"Got it, Boss."

"Jethro, when we are not in the presence of our colleagues." Gibbs told him. Tony nodded. "Now about that case." Tony sighed as Gibbs opened and read the file. When Gibbs finished he looked up.

"You are a fucking idiot, Tony! You went after a dangerous criminal without backup and then threw away your gun! How much more stupid can you get?" Gibbs yelled at him. Tony cowered in the corner of the elevator, hoping Gibbs wouldn't hit his already battered body.

"Nice work, Tony. You showed just how valuable you are to this team. Maybe we should kick McGee and Ziva off and become a two man team again? I love you, Tony DiNozzo. Have since Baltimore. I also think a new rule is in order. Rule 33, Never EVER go anywhere without backup."

The quick change of mood in Gibbs surprised Tony. Tony was only able to nod at Gibbs' statement.

"I'm just worried about you, Tony. These stupid decisions usually end up in you getting injured. You weren't injured too bad, did you?"

"Umm… Well… About that…"

"Ducky or hospital?"

"Neither?" Tony asked. He really didn't want Gibbs to find out the extent of his injuries.

"Ducky. We'll let him decide, after we let the others know about the case."

Tony sighed and nodded.

Gibbs restarted the elevator and the doors opened.

Tony followed Gibbs back into the bullpen, slowly. The room started to spin and he was feeling really light headed. He stopped and blinked a couple times, trying to get the room to stop spinning. Suddenly, darkness started to close in and Tony, found the floor rising to meet him.

"Boss, I think there's something wrong with the room…" Tony managed to say in his dizzy state before completely going unconscious and falling to the floor.

AN: Uh-oh! Looks like Tony's injuries finally caught up to him. Will Gibbs be able to save him? Or will it be too late?

Read the next chapter to find out.


	6. Chapter 6

_An: Sorry it took me so long to update guys. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!_

Gibbs POV

I sat in the waiting room of Bethesda, my head in my hands. What had gone so wrong that Tony felt like he couldn't talk to me?

_Flashback_

"DiNozzo!" Why do you not have any information?!" I yelled at Tony, angry.

"I'm trying, Boss, but I'm going off nothing here." Tony tried to explain.

"I needed new information 2 hours ago! And I don't believe I gave you permission to eat lunch!" I yelled as I threw Tony's uneaten lunch in the trash.

"Yes, Boss. Getting back to work, Boss." Tony said, as he turned back to his computer.

"No. Ziva will do your job. You find the Lieutenant's family, maybe you won't mess that up." I bellowed as I walked toward Tony's desk. I picked up the file on Tony's desk and gave it to Ziva. Tony nodded and turned back to his computer. I quickly walked over and head slapped Tony. "If you mess this up, you're fired." I walked back to my desk. "You can go home at 20:00 hours, but you must have something to give me tomorrow, before I get here." I said with a glare at Tony. I walked toward the elevator, and left. It was currently 1930 hours.

As I drove home I thought about what I had just said to Tony. I didn't mean anything I said. I was just frustrated that we couldn't find anything on this case. I sighed. I always take my anger out on Tony. I know he can handle it, but that's not the only reason. I have fallen deeply in love with my SFA. I can't let him know though, because I don't want to lose him or our friendship. Although, I might have already ruined our friendship. He never comes over anymore, and hasn't confided in me with anything for a few years now.

I sighed as I stepped out of my car. I went into my house and changed my clothes. I went down to the basement and worked on my boat.

I arrived at work at 0700 hours the next day. Nobody was there yet. I knew they wouldn't be here until 0800 hours, but if they were even a second late…

I sat down at my desk to see what I could find out.

I got up to refill my coffee fifty minutes later.

When I returned it was 0815 hours. I heard McGee and Ziva as I stepped out of the back elevator. I moved closer so I could hear them and see if Tony was here.

I didn't see Tony and it made me a little worried, he's never late. He's always early, well at least lately. He's been here before I have. I listened to my other two agents for a minute and what I heard shocked me.

"Tony's late, again. What do you think it was this time?" McGee asked Ziva.

"I bet he had another woman over last night and is late because he's too busy with her." Ziva answered.

"Of course. That or he was 'helping the old lady next door.'" McGee smirked, using finger quotes.

"I don't know why Gibbs keeps him around. He's completely useless. He can't use a computer, he can't find anything out, his instincts suck, and I haven't seen him get a confession in months. He tries and then Gibbs, you, or I have to step in and finish the interrogation. You would make a much better SFA than Tony. The only thing he's useful for is taking the hits. Getting injured so we don't have to. If he died, I think everyone would be happier." Ziva stated. McGee nodded in agreement.

"Vance hates him too. I'm surprised he hasn't been fired yet."

I was shocked at what my team was saying about Tony. Was this really what the friendly bickering had turned into. How much of this did they say when Tony is present, but I am not? How did I let this get so out of control? Well no more. I was going to put a stop to this now.

"I think you both know why he hasn't been fired yet." I snarled, strolling into the bullpen. My two agents' heads shot up so fast I thought they'd get whiplash. Their eyes widened.

"G-G-Gibbs! Um.. we haven't been able to find anything. There is literally nothing to go on." McGee stuttered, obviously trying to change the subject.

"Well, I will come back to that, but that's not what I am talking about." I glared at him. "You two need to respect Tony. He is your Senior Field Agent and your superior. He earned that position. Unlike you two, I hand picked him. He's the best agent I have ever worked with and nothing is going to change that. He would give his life for you two, and I thought you would do the same, but now I'm not so sure. If you don't remember, Tony and I were a two man team before we got you two. Our success rate has not dropped since then. In fact it might actually be lower now than it was back then. We got Kate, and our success rate stayed the same. You joined us, McGee, and we had the same results. Then Kate died and we got you, Ziva. Thrust upon us, still grieving for our dead teammate. After that, our success rate started to slip, ever so slightly. Notice anything? Why is it that you think you are superior to everyone? News flash, neither of you could ever replace Tony. He does so much more than you think. He has solved more cases on his own than the two of you have, with the help of the team, combined. That says something. He does all of his SFA paperwork, his reports, and all of my paperwork. Do you know why I have him receive my awards? Because he deserves them a hell of a lot more than I do. If he wasn't here, I would receive them myself or just have the Director give it to me the next time I'm in the office. You two can be replaced, Tony? He can never be replaced. Now, I don't want to hear anymore comments like that about Tony. If I find out you were talking about him like this again, I will head slap you into next year and fire you. Got it?"

Both agents nodded their heads. McGee looked ashamed, while Ziva looked pissed.

I glared at them both. "Now get to work. Find something, anything. If you find even the smallest bit of information you report to me immediately." I sat down at my desk and started my own research. I would give Tony until lunch to arrive, then I would trace his phone and go find him. I just hope he isn't injured or in trouble.

1115 hours rolled around and we still hadn't found anything. I sighed and turned to my team. "Go get lunch, but be back by 1300 hours. Bring Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy with you."

They nodded and left. I was going to go look for Tony. I grabbed my keys and my coffee. I got in my car and saw McGee, Abby, Ziva, Ducky, and Palmer drive away. I'm already mad at them, they better not be late. I sighed, I would have to ask Ducky if they talked about Tony at all. Shaking my head, I drove off towards Tony's apartment.

Pulling up, I got out of the car and headed up to his apartment. I opened his door and found an empty apartment. In fact it looked as if he hadn't been here in months. That confused me, I saw him go home every night, or at least I thought I did.

I left the apartment and ran into Tony's neighbor, Mrs. Pope. "Hello, Mrs. Pope. Do you know where Tony is?"

"Jethro! Haven't seen you around in a while. How many times do I have to tell you to call me Vi?"

"Like you said, I haven't been around in a while. I must have forgotten."

"Well, you'll have to come around more. Now I haven't seen Tony in a couple days. Lately, he's been coming around, feeding Kate, washing his clothes, packing more clothes, and having dinner with me. Only he only comes around on the weekends only. It is very strange. He doesn't stay long. Maybe a few hours."

"Thank you Vi. I'll see if I can find out what's going on." She gave me a hug and returned to her apartment. I left thinking over what Vi had just told me. Tony hadn't been staying in his apartment. So where had he been staying? I had a feeling I knew where.

I called Tony and got no answer. Sighing, I drove home, ate a quick lunch, and headed back to work. It was 1300 when I arrived. The rest of my team pulled up at the same time I did.

We headed up to the bullpen and exited the elevator. Upon entering the bullpen we saw Tony sitting at his desk, working. I took a good look at him to make sure he wasn't injured. I didn't find anything, he just looked exhausted. I wondered if he got any sleep last night. As I studied him, I noticed all his handsome features. His sharp jawline, smooth skin, gorgeous green eyes… I shook myself out of my thoughts, and put my defenses back up.

"Nice of you to join us, DiNozzo." I growled.

"Yeah, I didn't know you still worked here." Ziva quipped.

"We didn't even notice you were gone. We didn't need you." McGee joined in.

I glared at them and they quickly went to their desks and continued to work on the case. I turned back to Tony.

DiNozzo, you better have…" I was cut off by Tony's cell phone ringing. Tony checked the caller ID, and smiled.

"Sorry, I have to take this." He flipped his phone open and put it to his ear. "Hey Lisa! No, right now is a perfect time. You're not interrupting anything."

McGee and Ziva stared at Tony in shock. He had just cut me off. I, on the other hand, was shaking with anger. How dare he cut me off to take a personal, friendly call!

"I know, I miss her too. Tell MoMo I send her my love…. Two days? I know it's really hard for her daddy to be away, and I wish I could come back sooner, but I can't… Well at least you can let her know her daddy's not in trouble anymore. Yeah, I would be honored… I'll talk to you tomorrow to discuss details for Friday. I love you."

I had no idea what the conversation was about, but it confused me. I would question him about it later.

I could tell McGee and Ziva were thinking something nasty. I was going to kick their heads in if they said anything out loud.

I started to say something to Tony, but was interrupted by Abby, frantically running into the bullpen.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs! The evidence is gone! I looked everywhere in the lab! I think it's been stolen!" Abby exclaimed.

"Calm down, Abbs. We'll find it." I told her pulling her into a hug. "Go check your lab for fingerprints, DNA, or any other clues as to where it was taken. Ziva, go with her. McGee, security footage. DiNozzo, you're with me."

"Nope." Tony said. Everybody froze and stared at Tony.

"What did you say?" I growled.

"I said no. I'm not going on a pointless search for evidence that isn't missing." Tony stated.

"And I suppose you know exactly where it is, Tony?" Ziva quipped.

"Yup. It's in the evidence locker."

"And why is it there, DiNozzo? This is an ongoing case." I growled. I was curious as to why it was there. Tony better not be playing one of his pranks on us.

Tony snorted. "No it's not. It's been officially closed for an hour now." He held up the file for me to take.

"DiNozzo, elevator. Now."

Tony followed me to the elevator. After stopping the elevator, I turned towards Tony.

"Wait, Gibbs. I need to say something before you say your piece." Tony took a deep breath. He looked scared and I wondered what this was about. "This might not be the best time to say this, but it's the perfect time for me. I've waited too long. I love you, Gibbs. I've been in love with you since that first head slap. That's why I never left, why I never took any of those job offers. That and the fact that I thought I had a family here. Ducky and Jimmy are still part of that family. They haven't changed. Abby, I still love and I think she just doesn't realize what she's been doing. As soon as she realizes it, I'm ready to forgive her and welcome her back with open arms. But Ziva and McGee? No way in hell. Now if it were just those three, I wouldn't be here. I would visit them, everyday. What kept me here is you. I couldn't stand the thought of not seeing you everyday. It would have killed me. I was literally dying when you went to Mexico, Ducky had to drag me back from the brink. This team hasn't been a family for years now. I used to have two brothers, two sisters, a grandfather, and the love of my life, even if we weren't together. I haven't felt like that since Kate died. Ziva has never been anything but my partner at work. McGee lost the title of brother when he sided with Ziva. I thought that I wouldn't be able to handle your rejection, but things have happened that have shown that I have others who are there for me. Gibbs, I miss the old us. The us that got together outside of work, the us that were great friends. The us that shared meals and beer at your house every week. What happened to you? You started pushing me away. Why? Help me understand. I'm not afraid of rejection anymore. I have nothing holding me back to this team anymore. I am ready and willing to walk out if I have to. Maybe the thought of losing me will make you realize just how cruel you've been to me. How much I love you, that I am willing to walk away."

I stared at Tony in shock. I had never thought that the younger man would ever love me back. Me, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, second b for bastard. Tony was right, now that he thought about it. He was right about everything. He also didn't want to lose Tony, and if showing him how I really felt was the way to keep him here, with me, then by God, I would do just that.

I grabbed Tony's shirt and pulled him into a kiss. I felt Tony smirk. Tony moaned when I ran my tongue against Tony's lips, asking for entrance, which Tony happily granted.

We broke apart when air became a necessity.

"You're not going anywhere, Tony. Unless it's with me." I smirked.

"Got it, Boss."

"Jethro, when we are not in the presence of our colleagues." I told him. Tony nodded. "Now about that case." Tony sighed as I opened and read the file. When I finished I was shocked and a little bit angry at Tony for putting himself in danger. I looked up.

"You are a fucking idiot, Tony! You went after a dangerous criminal without backup and then threw away your gun! How much more stupid can you get?" I yelled at him. Tony cowered in the corner of the elevator. I wonder what that was about, but I had to show him I was only upset because he put himself in danger.

"Nice work, Tony. You showed just how valuable you are to this team. Maybe we should kick McGee and Ziva off and become a two man team again? I love you, Tony DiNozzo. Have since Baltimore. I also think a new rule is in order. Rule 33, Never **EVER **go anywhere without backup." I was serious about the McGee and Ziva comment, but Tony probably thought I was joking.

My quick mood change surprised Tony. He was only able to nod at my statement.

"I'm just worried about you, Tony. These stupid decisions usually end up in you getting injured. You weren't injured too bad, did you?"

"Umm… Well… About that…" Oh, no.

"Ducky or hospital?"

"Neither?" Tony asked. What was he trying to hide from me? He was getting medical attention whether he liked it or not.

"Ducky. We'll let him decide, after we let the others know about the case."

Tony sighed and nodded.

I restarted the elevator and the doors opened.

Tony followed me back into the bullpen, slowly. I saw Tony stop. I turned to see what was the matter but immediately saw it. Tony was swaying on his feet.

"Boss, I think there's something wrong with the room…" Tony managed to say before completely going unconscious and falling to the floor.

"TONY!" I yelled, dropping my coffee and lunging forward to catch Tony. I just barely caught him before he hit the ground. I gently laid his head in my lap.

"Call Ducky and an ambulance." I ordered. Ziva and McGee nodded, both going to make calls. Abby dropped down beside me.

"Is he going to be ok, Gibbs? We can't lose him too." Abby said tears in her eyes.

"I know Abbs, I know. Start looking for injuries." I examined his face and head and found a few injuries that had me worried. I could tell he had a broken nose, it was quite swollen. He also had a huge goose egg on the side of his head. Then I found something that made my blood run cold, a bullet. It was lodged in the side of Tony's head, just above his ear.

"Gibbs! Tony has nine bullet wounds! Three in his chest! He also has broken ribs and a whole bunch of bruises." Abby informed me. She had taken off Tony's shirt and jacket to have better access. My eyes widened. Coplane had really done a number on him. Damn it Tony! Why do you have to keep putting yourself in danger? Ducky arrived as we continued to carefully assess his wounds.

"I found another one in his knee, Gibbs!" My eyes widened at Abby's comment. That's eleven gunshot wounds. How the hell was Tony able to stand that long, and fight Coplane. Don't forget he beat Coplane as well.

"Oh my, Jethro! What happened?" Ducky asked, kneeling next to Tony. I explained everything to him as he started treating Tony's wounds as best he could. The paramedics showed up two minutes later and rushed Tony off to the ambulance. I rode with him to the hospital, telling the others to meet me there.

_There you go! I hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will be interesting. What happens when you mix strangers in with Gibbs family? Find out in the next chapter._


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